National Engineering Month 2013 Review

by Ala Bashatly, EIT

National Engineering Month was celebrated with yet another exciting K’NEX event.

The bridge building contest took place at THE MUSEUM in Kitchener on March 23rd and 24th from 10am- 5pm. The K’NEX bridge building is one of the best ways to introduce the youth to the world of Engineering!

The event brought out the youth’s imagination and creativity. Children learned about the various fields of engineering from our volunteers. Parents, guardians and volunteers taught the children different techniques for building a strong bridge. Children built bridges using the K’NEX components which are then tested by the PEO-Grand River Chapter’s volunteers.

Pushing the envelope this year, the bridges were loaded with bricks. Structures that were able to withstand the maximum load of bricks entered a draw to win three prizes. First place prize was a K’NEX Roller Coaster set. Second place was a Ferris wheel set and the third place was multi- models Tub set.

As part of the National Engineering Month event held at The Museum, Conestoga College brought a Denso industrial robot that challenged participants to a game of tic-tac-toe. Participants learned various applications of industrial robots while gaining an appreciation for their versatility. Each participant was able to observe the robot functioning, the control system governing its motion, and the vision system used to inform the robot of real time events. The Denso Robot software was loaded to a PLC- programmable logic controller to play games in hard and easy mode. Children were thrilled to play tic-tac-toe with the robot.

Greg Burns-VPO Engineering Society from Conestoga College controlled the robot on Saturday. Sonny Modi-VPI Engineering Society from Conestoga College did a great job setting up and demonstrating the Denso Robot on Sunday.

Sunday was highlighted by the First Robotics Frisbee Thrower Robot. REBotics team from Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, and Brad Morris from University of Waterloo demonstrated the robot’s various mobility skills and high precision in throwing Frisbee discs.

The event was a great success with the support of University of Waterloo students.

Special thanks to the fans of the K’NEX event that came for more fun at THE MUSEUM!